This invention relates generally to fishing lures and particularly to the genus of fishing lures known and referred to as "horse head" jigs. Horse head lures or jigs have a weight distribution to cause their hooks to extend generally rearward with an attached swivel extending below the hook to support a spinner when in use.
Many type of lures may be included in an "arsenal" of an avid fisherman. Unique action or functionality may make any one of a number of lures more popular than others given certain fishing conditions. Horse head type lures, also known as "pony head jigs", are well known casting and jigging lures and are in some regions the lure of choice for walleye and smallmouth bass. Horse head lures are especially known, however, as effective lures for catching crappies. These lures are popular because of their success enjoyed in attracting and catching fish. Horse head lures are being marketed by a great number of lure makers under various trade names. The shape of the lures, though resembling somewhat the head of a horse, hence their name, also have an appearance and have typically the natural sizes of beetle larvae, also known as grub worms. These larvae are known to make excellent live bait. Moreover, the shape of the lures is an embodiment of functionality in at least two other, primarily structural respects. First of all, the shape has a center of gravity with respect to a fish line suspension of the lure which positions a gap of the hook in a generally vertical plane with a preferred upward orientation of the open gap. This orientation reduces the chance of the hook becoming snared in submersed logs, brush, weeds or other obstructions found in many preferred fishing waters. Also, the depending portion or head and nose of the horse head not only functions as a keel to orient the hook as described, but also offsets an attachment of a swivel downward with respect to the hook of the lure to position a spinner attached to the swivel directly below, yet clear of the lure's hook or any dressing thereon. This swivel position is not just fortuitously offset, but permits the spinner or spinner blade to twist freely next to the hook when the lure is moved through the water.
The horse head lures are used for casting. It is their action of moving through the water when either retrieved after having been cast that give the horse heads their effectiveness. The success rate of some known horse head lures tends to decrease, however, when strikes occur while the lures are being moved through the water at a rather rapid rate, but only under those conditions. When reeled in slowly or when moved intermittently and being substantially at rest when a strike occurs, the horse head lures are known to be successful "fish getters". As a result, they have become staple items in the arsenal of many fishermen.
Because of the popularity of horse head lures, the shapes of various known horse head lures made by different manufacturers are substantially the same. A "sea horse" type lure shows the head with its "nose" pointing slightly more forward in the direction of travel and in line with the neck portion, somewhat like the position of the head of a galloping horse. Generally, the action is similar when fishing with any of the known horse head type lures. The fishing is great as long as the lures are moved through the water with caution to avoid sustained rapid movement.
It is generally known that an important sensory stimulant which induces fish to "strike" is the motion of its prey or, hence, the motion of an artificial lure. Varying the speed at which the artificial lure moves through the water closely imitates the motion of the fish' prey seeking to escape or to protect itself. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to be able to fish with a lure which is not significantly limited in the speed at which it is moved through the water, and which is capable of hooking a fish even when it is struck by the fish during a spurt of movement through the water. It appears that particularly those desirable game fish, such as smallmouth bass, pike, or walleye, which by nature rely on their own swiftness of striking their prey, become more eager to strike at that moment when their pre starts to make a sudden move to escape and before it has moved out of reach. The ability to subject the lures to such sudden spurts of movement without apparently losing their effectiveness when a fish actually strikes during such movement would therefore be a significant improvement in horse head type lures. Because of the various advantageous functions of horse head type lures, it would be, of course, desirable to improve the usefulness of the horse head lures without compromising any of the known useful features of their shape.